Elevated plasma homocysteine level in vascular dementia reflects the vascular disease process.

BACKGROUND: Patients with vascular dementia (VaD) exhibit particularly elevated levels of plasma total homocysteine (tHcy) compared to patients with other psychogeriatric diseases.

METHODS: We investigated the main determinants (age, renal impairment, cobalamin/folate status and presence of extracerebral vascular disease) of plasma tHcy in 525 patients with VaD. Furthermore, 270 patients with depression were used as a reference group to reveal the potential specificity of elevated plasma tHcy in patients with VaD.

RESULTS: Elevated plasma tHcy levels in patients with VaD could only partly be attributed to cobalamin/folate deficiency or renal impairment. Plasma tHcy might also be related to the vascular disease process since patients with depression and vascular disease exhibited similar plasma tHcy levels to patients with VaD.

CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that elevated plasma tHcy might be a sensitive marker for the vascular disease process in patients with VaD and that the level also is a reflection of changes in the other main determinants of plasma tHcy.